A row of historical Victorian homes, underscore the San Francisco skyline in a view from Alamo Square. Apartment rents in San Francisco have soared beyond the lofty levels of the original Internet boom. This time, it’s being driven by well-paid software engineers and Web designers flocking to Silicon Valley.

Playing the word-association game with states and their marquee industries is pretty easy. You don’t have to be a subscriber to the Wall Street Journal to know that coal is vitally important to West Virginia, oil keeps Alaska afloat, or that automobiles keep Michigan’s economic engine running.

California is a little different – we’re so big and diverse that we’re more akin to a nation-state than an ordinary state. In the Golden State, each region has different economic drivers. Hollywood has movies, San Pedro has the port, Anaheim has Disneyland, El Segundo has aerospace, and San Francisco has high tech. These industries provide the jobs, tax base and people that shape their respective communities.

Which is why it makes no sense that San Franciscans, some say, can’t wait to run the techies out of town.

In its forecast for 2014, the Economist predicted that the anger in San Francisco and the Silicon Valley will fuel a “peasants revolt against the sovereigns of cyberspace.”

San Francisco Supervisor David Campos told the San Francisco Chronicle, “As an industry (high tech), it hasn’t done enough … . They (his constituents) don’t see them active in the local school or helping the local merchants or helping with the local playground.” Campos also said particular animosity is directed at well-compensated tech workers because they’re being blamed for rising rents.

Former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown joined in, saying, “It’s only a matter of time before the techies’ youthful luster fades, and they’re seen as just another extension of Wall Street. And when that happens, tenant advocates, community activists, labor unions and Occupy types are going to start asking why we’re giving away the city to all these white-male-dominated businesses that don’t even hire locals.”

And if the tech industry doesn’t get with the program, the former mayor says “the next time it comes to a tax measure or a vote at the Planning Commission, they could find themselves getting skinned.”

These are pretty harsh words coming from some of the city’s heavy hitters. Particularly when you look at what tech workers bring to the table.

San Francisco has an unemployment rate of 5.3 percent, the lowest since 2008. Most California cities would kill for that number, with Los Angeles at 9.7 percent, Sacramento at 8.1 percent and Fresno at a whopping 14.4 percent.

In addition, tech companies with a payroll of at least $1 million and receiving tax breaks for locating in distressed S.F. neighborhoods, such as the Mid-Market area, are required to provide a community benefits package, which may include volunteering, helping nonprofits, and purchasing from nearby businesses. Tech giants Twitter and customer-service software maker Zendesk fall into this category.

Sounding cartoonishly like a villain in Ayn Rand’s “Atlas Shrugged,” an unnamed city official summed up the tax breaks to the Chronicle by saying, “Did (Mid-Market tech companies) meet their obligations? The answer to that is yes. … Are they doing enough? Well, that’s a different question.”

Eventually, techie patience for the city by the Bay will end, and many will look to relocate. Well, if they like California, how about coming down the I-5 to the friendlier pastures of Orange County?

Lucy Dunn, president and CEO of the Orange County Business Council, says the courtship has already begun. “O.C. is home to the second-most diverse cluster of high tech industries in the nation, some among the fastest-growing. So getting out our story, expanding the media exposure and sharing this county’s successes to a global audience will only help to attract and retain even more top companies and skilled workers.”

Who knows, San Francisco’s loss could be Orange County’s gain. One difference with San Francisco is that, down here, we blame the great weather for rising rents. It could be a nice change of pace.

Register opinion columnist John Phillips hosts a radio show on KABC/AM 790

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